Patterns in Sharp Force Fatalities—A Comprehensive Forensic Medical Study

Abstract

A ten-year series of 142 homicidal fatalities caused by sharp force injury was studied with the aim to systematize information inherent in the characteristics of the victim and the pattern of injuries. The population of victims consisted of 112 males (79%) and 30 females (21%); among perpetrators, 125 (88%) were males. Among victims as well as among perpetrators, persons of non-Swedish origin were overrepresented in relation to their share of the nonselected population. In 82 cases (58%), one or two wounds had been inflicted; in 23 cases (16%), ten or more wounds. In the latter group, eleven victims but no perpetrators were female. In the majority of cases victim and perpetrator were known to each other, and in instances of multiple wounding, a close relationship between the two was clearly more common than in the group of one- to two-wound fatalities. Tests for blood alcohol were positive in 86 of 116 victims (74%), the majority being in elimination phase. Furthermore, 96 of 120 perpetrators (80%) had positive tests or were known to be drunk at the time of the killing. In multiple wound fatalities, alcohol inebriation was less common both among victims and perpetrators. In these cases, the two persons involved were usually closely related or intimately known to each other, and in the absence of psychiatric disorder in the assailant, the motive was of a passionate type.

Differentiation of serrated and non-serrated blades from stab marks in bone

“…Successful analysis and interpretation can provide important contextual information regarding the instant of trauma, such as the position of the victim in relation to the attacker, the handedness of the attacker, whether the wound was caused by suicide or homicide etc. [for example 2,4,5,6,7]. Furthermore, the motion of the sharp object can be ascertained depending on whether a cut (the incision is wider than it is deep) or stab (the incision is deeper than it is wide) mark is left [see 8 for trauma definitions].…”

“…Previous work has focussed on interpreting sharp-force trauma from bone in order to make statements about the context of death in both forensic and archaeological contexts. Such work includes the definition of kerf dimensions and properties [9,10], the differentiation of cutmark origin [9,10,11,12,13,14], the impact of other taphonomic processes on cutmark preservation [15,16], patterns of butchery and dismemberment [10,17,18,19] and describing the details of the trauma incident itself [1,2,4,5,6,7,20,21]. Although research has demonstrated that it is possible to distinguish the class of sharp object used from the mark left behind, it is difficult to be any more precise than that.…”

Samurai Sword Cut Marks on Bone: Do We Know Enough?

“…However, tool marks identification on bone is under researched with the majority of sharp blade trauma focused on knife [1][2][3][4] and saw tool marks [5][6]. The four studies on Samurai sword trauma derived from archaeological specimens [7][8][9][10] and only one study from a forensic context [11].…”

A combined experimental and numerical study of stab-penetration forces

“…The blade holder design allows for easy interchange of blades for testing. The knives most commonly used in stabbing incidents are those household knives which are most readily available [13]. Three knives commonly available in the household have been tested; a cook's knife, a carving knife and a utility knife (shown in Fig.…”